Wood
is a Material only used on Shields, as is only used on Armor. Throughout the mid and late game, shields are the major defense against magic spells, so it is appropriate that the first shields, which have no gem slots and therefore little magic defense, are made from a material with the highest inherent magical defense, with having the second highest. However, one would not expect the starting material to be better than the successive two materials in every way. , by contrast, is only better against magic; it is better overall than and , but as both Str and Int increase, acquires better total stat bonuses, and , very weak against Physical damage, ends up weak in comparison with . , on the other hand, offers a very strong argument as the strongest material for Shields throughout the game, with a total bonus as strong as (+13), and the strongest stat (+8 Int) to protect against the strongest type of damage: magical. It is, furthermore, more balanced than by one point, being 5/8 Str/Int to 9/4. Even when considering the value of a Shield that guards against the most common type of damage, the issue surfaces of an optimal setup: Shield for normal play, and when facing strong magic enemies. shields have much higher Int stats (+8) than the early and shields that supersede them (together with , tied for lowest with +2). Players must compare the defense added by a Shield's Design to that strong magical protection, with Ghosts and such being even more dangerous than their later game Phantom counterparts Already strong against Earth, is useful until and damage appears, when the with no weakness against can be beneficial. It has a natural resistance to that will be of use before Carnelian and similar Gems and slots for them. shields combine with shields of any other Material to become shields of that other Material, even . This is a strategy used in creating high Tier shields, particularly to get around the fact that Type bonuses on the only shields in the game, a Circle and a Casserole, are both Blunt resistance only. Drops and Progression It is fully possible to create a Hoplite or better shield. It would take quite a few drops and is not a desirable task for casual players. There is a problem with most shields, that they have neither high nor balanced Type resistances. Only Oval and Hoplite shields have more than one Type, so although the selection of Designs in Wood shields does not comprise the best Type bonuses, they have only in one sense the worst: 10 is the lowest value, and Circle shield is even third lowest, at 15 Blunt, compared to Spiked's second lowest, at 12 Blunt. There are a very limited number of them, though: 10 drops, and 2 Chests with Wood shields in total. Four Designs in all. * Circle. All drops, all 8/255, all in First Abandoned Mines: # Miners' Resting Hall # The Suicide King # Coal Mine Storage # The Dark Tunnel until the Beast Training Dummy appears # Everwant Passage * Pelta # Chest in The Gallows, where the Minotaur is fought # 26/255 Tircolas Flow in Town Center West * Targe : # 26/255 Rue Sant D'alsa in Town Center West # 8/255 Corridor of the Clerics in Sanctum # 8/255 Theology Classroom in Sanctum * Buckler : Bucklers are not necessary in the Progression, even for their Blunt Type resistance, as Circle shields have that bonus # 1st Chest in the game # Enemy shield that never drops # 26/255 Rue Mal Fallde in Town Center West Category:Workshop Category:Game Mechanics Category:Guides Category:Shields Category:Material